Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs was named as a finalist for the NHL Selke Trophy on Sunday.
Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers and Jordan Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes are also in the running for the honor, given to the league’s top defensive forward.
Members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association submitted their ballots at the end of the regular season.
Matthews earned the Maurice Richard Trophy as the league’s top scorer this season, with 69 goals.
Matthews ranked second among all NHL forwards in puck steals (85), tied for second in blocked shots (93) and seventh in rating (+31).
Barkov helped the Atlantic Division champion Panthers finish the season tied for the NHL’s best goals-against average (2.41).
PHOTO JIM RASSOL, USA TODAY SPORTS ARCHIVES VIA REUTERS CON
Aleksander Barkov (16)
Staal led Hurricanes forwards in shorthanded ice time (168:58), with the best penalty kill unit in the league (86.4%).
He was assigned a team-leading 1,375 faceoffs and won 58.1% of them, the sixth-best percentage in the league.